Romano heads to V'land runoff

Unofficial results: Bermudez is likely challenger in Dec.

Nov. 7, 2012

Vineland mayoral candidate Ruben Bermudez (right) talks to John Procopio, one of his City Council running mates, as they await election results Tuesday night at the American Legion hall in Vineland. / Staff photo/Cody Glenn

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VINELAND — Voters here will go back to the polls Dec. 4 to determine who the next mayor and City Council will be. But what names will appear on that ballot was unclear Tuesday night.

A glut of vote-by-mail ballots cast across Cumberland County overwhelmed election officials who said they would not be able to count all of them until at least today.

Mayor Robert Romano and challenger Ruben Bermudez were leading in the mayoral race after all votes cast at the polls Tuesday were counted, but election officials did not know whether that would change after the vote-by-mail ballots were tabulated.

It’s unclear how many of those ballots remained uncounted Tuesday night, but officials said 6,000 such ballots were requested in advance of the election.

A runoff is necessary when no one mayoral candidate collects more than 50 percent of the total votes cast in the city. For council, a runoff is needed when no two candidates gather more than 50 percent of the votes. The top 10 City Council contenders proceed to the runoff.

“I got it,” Romano said. “I am the No. 1 vote-getter and this council should all make it in the top 10. There’s definitely going to be a runoff. I won. I mean, I got the most votes but it is tough to get the 50 percent-plus.”

Romano had to use a microphone to quiet the cheering banquet hall. He said he is concerned about getting voters out again in December for the runoff election.

“People aren’t going to come out to vote like they did to vote for the president,” Romano said. “What we have to worry about today is getting people back out to vote again. And I have to raise money again, which is the worst part. But we are going to do fine. And the slate and I need your support.”

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Early results showed Arroyo with the most votes among the 18 council candidates.

“God is great,” Arroyo said, taking the microphone from Romano. “I want to thank everyone for their love and support. We had so many volunteers come out and spend so many hours at our campaign office and walk our neighborhoods. We appreciate that because it means a lot to us. But the work is not done because I believe in Bob, and I want him to be my mayor.”

Coccaro, the current council president, said he was ready for a runoff race.

“Thank you very much,” Coccaro said. “This has been a great go-around and we have to do it again now. So let’s have at it.”

“Now, we take the campaign back to the streets and back to the downtown,” he said. “It’s up to us to do it one more time.”

Bermudez’s supporters cheered when the unofficial announcement of a runoff between him and Romano was made shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Family, friends and supporters gathered at the American Legion building on South West Avenue to watch the results tallied.

“From the looks of the numbers, it’s clear the people have spoken and are ready for changes in Vineland. I’ve got great support from this community,” said Bermudez, a former City Council president. “The day was very hectic. I was on radio for hours, but I’ve really enjoyed it.”

Running under the slogan “Moving Forward Together,” Bermudez said he was greeted by entire families who went to the polls together to support him.

With the number of votes counted Tuesday, challenger and former two-term mayor Perry Barse essentially conceded the race.

Barse said he had a good news/bad news talk with his son earlier in the evening Tuesday.

“The bad news is it looks like I didn’t make the runoff,” he said he told his son. “The good news is school’s out for me.”

Barse addressed the crowd of about 200 subdued supporters at the North Italy Hall as if his campaign to recapture the mayor’s post was over. He said he offered a vision for Vineland that apparently was not shared by the voters.

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“I respect the voters of Vineland,” he said. “When they speak, they speak.”

It appears three of Barse’s City Council candidates had made it into the runoff. Villar, Spinelli and Fanucci all appeared to garner enough votes to qualify for the Dec. 4 runoff.

Fanucci, who seemed to grab the most votes of the candidates on Barse’s slate, promised to work harder in the next 30 days than he has in the past year.

Barse congratulated the council candidates on his slate who apparently made it to the runoff.

“I’m sorry I’m not going to be on the ballot with them,” he said.

More than 40 close supporters of Doug Albrecht gathered at the Semper Marine building on Landis Avenue where they eagerly awaited election results.

Albrecht said he went to work Tuesday at Bob Albrecht Tire and Service like he does every day, but it felt anything but normal.

“I had people calling me asking for my opinion on who to vote for,” he said. “I told them, ‘I’ll happily tell you.’”

Albrecht served on the council over the past four years. He was the top vote-getter for City Council in 2008 when Robert Romano was elected mayor.

“At every particular time in my life there’s been something I’ve been involved with, and this was just the next phase,” said Albrecht. “And there will be another phase after this. It just keeps going.”

David Mazur also was a mayoral contender. He garnered the fewest votes.

The candidates who appear to be heading to the runoff are:

• Arroyo, an incumbent on City Council, works as a counselor at Rowan University in Glassboro and ran on the Romano team.

• Coccaro, a retired city police officer and incumbent councilman, ran on the Romano team.

• Fanucci, owner and operator of three businesses dealing with real estate, insurance and building. He also is finishing his sixth year as a Board of Education member. He was part of Barse’s slate.

• Gonzalez, a Vineland teacher who ran on Bermudez’s team.

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• Laboy, who serves on the Cumberland Empowerment Zone board and is a retired Vineland public schools administrator, and ran on the Romano team.

• Procopio, a teacher in the Vineland public school system, who ran on Bermudez’s team.

• Romero, a lifelong community resident, local activist and co-owner of Budget Muffler in Vineland, ran on the Romano team.

• Spinelli, who said his 30 years of experience in the development and profitable leadership of large-scale, multimillion-dollar business operations would help the city’s economic development. He was part of Barse’s slate.

• Thompson, a former painters union official and a former Democratic Cumberland County freeholder, ran on the Romano team.

• Villar, who operates Bagel University in Vineland, was part of Barse’s slate.

Six other council candidates apparently failed to make the runoff.

Delfin Cuevas Jr. and Gina Randazzo-Thompson were part of Albrecht’s slate.

Romano ran on a platform based on successes during his four years in office, including: revitalization of the Vineland Municipal Electric Utility, luring the proposed $350 million Magic Sports project to town and managing the city on a budget with no increase in taxes.

Bermudez, a former City Council president whose campaign slogan in the nonpartisan election is “Moving Forward Together,” owns Juvante Formal Wear on Landis Avenue. Bermudez’s platform included: appoint a citizen’s budget committee, hire a professional business administrator for the city, develop a coordinated economic development marketing plan, cultivate regional economic development partners, launch a stronger safer neighborhoods initiative, work for new job training and educational opportunities, including a four-year vocational technical high school in Cumberland County

Tuesday’s municipal election was the first to be held in November since the city was formed in 1952.

City officials voted in 2011 to change the election date from May to November as a cost-saving measure. It is anticipated the city will save $100,000 every four years because of the switch.

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